Yet Another Synscan Beta Code Release

A new beta release has popped up on the Skywatcher site. There are no release notes, just the commentary "Notes: This is not SynScan EQ official firmware release, but for beta-site test only.

A new feature of Polar Re-alignment is added and improved accuracy under Alignment sub-menu of the hand control in the firmware. User may use this feature to do the polar alignment without aligning Polaris in the polarscope for an EQ mount.

This new firmware also works with AZ goto and DOB SynScan goto mount."

There was an earlier thread on this posted a few weeks ago for the Sirus mount which is the same as the SkyWatcher. It's essentially a drift alignment procdure with "hand controller assist". It really does cut down on the drift. PHD guiding doesn't have to work as hard.

There was an earlier thread on this posted a few weeks ago for the Sirus mount which is the same as the SkyWatcher. It's essentially a drift alignment procdure with "hand controller assist". It really does cut down on the drift. PHD guiding doesn't have to work as hard.

It's not really a drift alignment, what it is is the AllStar polar alignment system from the company's Celestron mounts ported to their SynScan mounts...

Thanks for the correction Rod.
I have now downloaded 03.30 beta 29 and tested it with no issues.
I still do a Polar alignment via the original instructions in my Skywatcher manual and it has given me very good accuracy in imaging. Of course the polar scope reticle has to be aligned correctly as well for this to work properly. (When my mount was shipped from the distributor, the reticle was NOT set correctly.) Now with the hand controller update, I further adjust on a selected star (after the "regular" Polar alignment), to tweak both T-Bolts to center. I think this helps PHD guiding in that it doesn't have to do as much correction. What do you think?

Finally got my Atlas working well enough to use (details on different thread) and tested the new beta 3.30/29. I did the "Re-align" twice - once after each 3-star align as mentioned above, and I am quite pleased with the results. Definately better than the previous version. Faster by far than drift-aligning, PHD aligning, or any of the others methods I have tried. Accuracy seems very good, but I have not tried to verifiy it with tests other than seeing improved guiding results, and lack of drift in my PEC curves. The upgrade is easy, and free, and the results seem to bear out that it is worth the effort. Thanks Synta, and thanks to all posters involved.

I installed it on my EQ6, and the mount was already pretty close. I did a 3 star alignment, and then the polar alignment routine. The HC wanted me to move by two degrees in alt, and over four in az. Knowing this to be out of whack, I cancelled out of the routine. I did another 3 star alignment, did the PA routine on the same star, and this time, I was asked to move the mount less than a degree in both axis.

I did this for the next half hour, only to have to start over with the pa scope.

I have tested both 3.28 beta 21 and 3.30 beta 29. Version 3.28 works ok and i really like the new polar realign feature. I have problem with 3.30 though. I do not see the option to change autoguiding speed in the new firmware. I really need that feature so i got back to 3.28. What are your observations? Do you see the same option missing from your hand controller after the upgrade?

Edit: One more thing - with the new beta 3.30 i could not make PHD to calibrate and start guiding. The star just does not move enough. I am definitely back to 3.28 till we get new beta with these bugs fixed.

I flashed the new beta. Everything went fine. I see that the option to select the auto guide speed is back which is very important for me. It's miss was very annoying bug in 3.30 beta firmware. At first opportunity i will test the new beta under the stars and will report.

Meanwhile for those of you that want to test the new polar re-align feature here is what i do to make it work as expected:

1. Make rough polar alignment using the polar scope. I personally put polaris in the center of the polar scope and this way guarantee that it is no more than 1 degree off in azimuth and altitude.

2. Make 3-star alignment. Center the stars as accurate as possible during it. I personally attach my DSLR and use the live view with enabled grid to ensure that the star is centered properly.

3. After the 3-star alignment is completed start the polar re-alignment. when asked for a star to be used select star from the list which is not near any one of the 3 used for the previous alignment. Follow the procedure and center the star as accurate as possible. When the procedure is completed look through the polar scope to ensure that the polar star is where it is expected to be. You can use program like "polar finder" to see where polaris should be regarding the center of the polar scope at this time.

4. After the polar re-align is completed park the mount, turn off the power, turn it on again, select not to start from park position and make another 3-star alignment. After this you can start taking pictures.

These observations are based on the tests that i made on 3.28 and 3.30 beta versions. When i have observations about the new beta 3.32 i will report.

I finally had 2 days with good weather to test the new beta firmware 3.32 beta 5 and it is working really well. The polar realign algorithm seems to be working better. It was enough to just put polaris in the field of view of the polar scope, make 3 star alignment and then the polar realign and everything was ok. There was no need to make another 3 star alignment after the polar realign and the goto accuracy was very good. I also checked the polaris position through the polar scope after the polar realign and it was just where i expected to be. I recommend the new beta firmware to everybody.